More than 13 million people in the USA suffer from a loss of bladder control; especially overweight women and those with type 2 diabetes.

The DPP randomly assigned 3,234 overweight people with higher-than-normal blood glucose levels to one of three approaches to prevent type 2 diabetes: dietary changes and increased physical activity aimed at a 7-percent weight loss; treatment with the oral diabetes drug metformin; or placebo. The last two groups were also given standard medical advice about diet and weight loss. In the study, 660 women were randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle changes, 636 to metformin treatment, and 661 to placebo. Their average age was 50 years old, with an average body mass index of 35.

Women who changed their lifestyle intensively and lost five to seven per cent of their weight had fewer episodes of weekly incontinence compared to women in placebo groups – this means 38 per cent versus 46 per cent.

Jeanette S. Brown, M.D. of the University of California, San Francisco, and lead author says: " This reinforces the benefits of modest weight loss. A 200-pound woman who loses ten to 15 pounds not only lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but also improves bladder control. Preventing diabetes and improving bladder control are powerful reasons to make these lifestyle changes."

In the USA, about 21 million people suffer from diabetes, but 41 million people have prediabetes. Diabetes type 2’s prevalence has risen dramatically since 1970 and avails diseases like blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.